


A Call To Arms

by Nadja_Lee



Category: The Sentinel (TV)
Genre: Duty, Love, M/M, Moral Dilemmas, Morality, Protectiveness, Veterans, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-11-18
Updated: 2006-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:07:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22986847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nadja_Lee/pseuds/Nadja_Lee
Summary: The Iraq War still rages and the US armed forces needs all the personal they can get so Jim discovers he has been recalled to active duty.
Relationships: Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg
Kudos: 36





	A Call To Arms

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much to Nancy who kindly offered to beta this even though she’s not into the Sentinel fandom. Thanks so much, lov *hugs*  
> Warnings: Debate on politics, in particular the Iraq War. I believe Jim and Blair’s viewpoints herein are consistent with their characters.

# A Call To Arms

Jim and Blair were on their way home from work, Jim having picked Blair up at the University after one of his first lectures as a professor. One year after his Sentinel dissertation had went public, he had finally gotten the degree he had worked so many years for.

Looking back now it had been amazingly simple to get his academic career back on track. Though Blair had said he’d accept the detective badge then, he hadn’t felt good about it; it hadn’t been for him and Jim had known that, even though Blair had pretended to put up a strong front. So without further ado Jim had simply gone to Blair’s chancellor and demonstrated his Sentinel abilities and had afterwards requested she classify Blair’s thesis. It had taken no more than five days after that to get Blair’s dissertation labelled top secret and his credentials hurried through with the utmost discretion. Despite some initial worry that Jim’s admission would lean toward government scrutiny, time had passed and nothing had happened. Blair’s public admission had apparently been enough to keep curious investigators at a distance, probably afraid to be labelled frauds as well. Blair now enjoyed a prosperous career but had decided to switch focus from Sentinels to other aspects of various cultures, though on occasion he’d still ride along with Jim. Life had begun to settle into a new, but in both men's opinions a much better, rhythm, thanks in no small part to the fact that the two had only a few months earlier become lovers. 

It hadn’t been an Earth shattering change; there were no deeply felt revelations or huge arguments or problems accepting the new dimension to their relationship. It had seemed natural to take their friendship to that level, as natural as it had been for Jim to let Blair stay with him all those years and for Blair to remain there. Blair thought that it was because of their Sentinel and Guide bond, that this new dynamic was something they had been moving towards all along. Jim didn’t really care about the whys; all he knew was that he was finally happy.

“We can grill steaks tonight,” Blair suggested as Jim opened the front door and let them in.

“Sounds good,” he agreed with a smile. He felt a little tired today; he had been on a tough murder case and had yet to find complete calm within himself again. When Jim took off his jacket he reached for Blair’s and hung both of them up. Blair picked up the mail they had received from the floor and handed it to Jim.

“I’ll start dinner,” he said, having sensed Jim was feeling more quiet than usual today. Later Jim would tell him what had happened today, but until he was ready Blair wouldn’t push. After they had became lovers, both had become better at respecting each other’s boundaries and sensing each other’s moods.

“Thanks,” Jim said as he took the letters, and Blair gave him a quick kiss on the lips, smiling warmly when he drew back and disappeared into the kitchen.

Jim remained standing at the entrance to the kitchen so he could keep Blair in sight while he scanned the various letters. Most were bills for him to pay: the mortgage for the loft, the insurance for his car and such. There was a postcard from Hawaii from Blair’s mother, which he put aside for Blair to read later, and a small package from Amazon.com containing two books. One was called ‘Jungle Warfare – the Battle for the Asian Pacific’ and was a book about the strategies used in WWII in that area, and the other was titled ‘The Celts – myths, legends and history’. The first book was his, so Jim put it on top of the bills he had to pay, and the other he put in Blair’s pile. The next letter was the insurance on Blair’s car, which ended up on top of his book. A postcard caught his attention and he put the rest of the mail on the kitchen counter while he investigated it. The picture on the card showed a jungle, a flock of birds in flight over it. With an uneasy feeling he turned the card over. 

‘RLTW, captain. RLTW,’ was all the card said and it was signed ‘1st Lieutenant Ling.’ Hmm....he has been promoted was the first thing Jim thought. Ling had been very young, very inexperienced and would have been very dead if Jim and his unit hadn’t showed up when they had. Since then Ling had kept in touch with him and they had a bond that only men who had saved each other’s lives can have. However, this wasn’t just a regular ‘this is what I’ve done the last few months’ message. This was something else. A sense of disbelief and a feeling between pride and worry overtook him. Did this mean….

“RLTW,” Blair read the message out loud that had made his partner freeze, concern about a potential zone having made Blair abandon the salad he had been in the middle of preparing. Blair frowned. “I don’t get it.”

Jim took a deep breath, finding that inner centre he always found when in combat: the quiet before the storm. “It means Rangers Lead The Way.” The motto of the regiment, a code to live by. Pushing harder and faster than anyone else. The first in, the last out.

“Why would anyone send you that?”

“It’s a message.” At Blair’s questioning look he elaborated, “I’m going back in.”

Maybe Ling had suggested to reinstate him, or more likely since he was still in, he had just gotten word and had wanted to welcome Jim back. The gesture did indeed make Jim remember with a sense of bittersweet pride the comrades he had had back then, the ones he had lost and the ones who were still in the regiment.

“In the Rangers?!” Blair asked with disbelief. "This can’t be happening."

Jim nodded. “There should be a…” he mumbled as he searched the letters he hadn’t yet gone through until he found what he was looking for. “Yes, here it is.”

The letter was addressed to Captain James J. Ellison, and Blair's bad feeling showed on his face when Jim opened it and began to read the letter. Half way through he looked up and his eyes caught Blair’s. His stare was strong but without showing any emotions, so Blair wouldn’t guess what the content was about.

Hearing his partner’s heart go a mile a minute in worry changed his mind, and Jim began to read from the letter, his voice a soft but firm monotone as if he was reading the latest Jag results. “Captain James J. Ellison. The United States Army is recalling you to active duty, effective immediately. Your rank will be reinstated. You are to report to the nearest army base within two days of receiving this letter. From there on you will be taken to a main base from which you will be given command of a section of the 75th Ranger Regiment and given the rank of Major. Within a week you and your team must report to Colonel Jackson, stationed in the 25th camp in Bagdad, southern quadrant. He will instruct you further.”

“They can’t do this!” Blair interrupted him hotly, anger and fear shining in his eyes. "It's one thing to be recalled! But do they have to send you to a war zone? This is the 21st century! People do **not** get drafted to far of places and get blown to pieces! I won’t let it happen!" 

“Yes they can. I’m in the reserve. I always knew there was a possibility I’d be called back.” He paused before he added; “I was reinstated briefly during Desert Storm and as the Iraqi War escalated I always knew I might find a letter like this waiting for me.”

“You were in Desert Storm?” was all Blair could say, his surprise evident.

“Briefly. It was a quick operation. I was gone for about three months, one of them spent in retraining and briefings.” He had only been out a few years back then and going back to the army had been like coming home. Being a soldier was a way of life, not a job. He had been and would always be a soldier at heart. His walk reflected it, his stare, how closely he could guard secrets and his emotions, his neatness and how he still make his bed the way a drill sergeant would give praise for. He had had unique experiences and talents which the army had seen fit to use back then and that had triggered his recall. His main objectives had been strategy and recon missions.

Blair cocked his head, obviously curious, but Jim could still feel his partner's worry, anger and concern return full force when he said, “This is different from a quick war with minimum casualties. They can’t just order you back; you have a life now.”

“I knew when I joined Covert Ops that the kind of knowledge gained on such missions never really lets you leave,” Jim replied evenly. He knew Blair saw it as if his life was being ruined; Jim saw it as a duty to perform, an honour in its own way.

“How can you defend this?!” Blair protested, his anger rising in concert with his worry.

“I knew when I joined that my obligation to the army would precede everything else,” Jim said calmly before he added, a hint of warmth in his voice, “The army gave me my bachelors degree, they taught me how to serve and protect, how to live by a code of honour…to be an officer and a gentleman.”

Blair waved an irritated hand at him, frustration in his eyes. “You’re a Sentinel. It’s in your genes to serve and protect.”

“Alex was a Sentinel too,” Jim warned softly, pain in his eyes at the memory. Though they had talked about the episode and both had forgiven what there was to forgive, it was still a painful memory. Jim knew he should have sought Blair’s counsel when his Sentinel instincts of dominance and mating took over his sense of reasoning, and Blair had told him that he should have let his friend know that there was a new Sentinel in town in the first place.

“She wasn’t a true Sentinel; I think deep down I knew that from the start,” Blair admitted quietly, still obviously upset with himself for not having acted on that instinct from the start. “But Sentinel or not then you don’t owe the army anything. Whatever debt you may feel you owe them you have paid back long ago.”

“It’s not a matter of debt but a matter of honour,” Jim said simply. At Blair’s confused look he elaborated, “It’s for the honour of the regiment, my fellow soldiers…my own as well.”

Blair shook his head, his cheeks flaming with frustration at Jim’s inability to understand his point of view. “Didn’t you read that note? They’re gonna ship you off to Iraq, man! Iraq!”

“I know.”

Jim’s quiet acceptance seemed to be driving Blair insane. “You may be eager to die but I’m not quite as eager to see you commit suicide!” He protested, his voice filled with agony and pain more than anger, and tears formed in his eyes and slowly ran down his cheeks.

“Sweetheart, I’m not dead yet,” Jim said softly, moved by the love behind his partner’s words. With a gentle gesture he wiped the tears from Blair’s cheeks. “No tears,” he said, his voice low and warm yet holding an almost pleading edge. He knew he would have to leave tomorrow to be able to report in on time and he wanted to remember Blair happy and smiling, not sad and crying.

Blair drew back from him, his eyes ablaze, filled with hope and despair. “Then don’t go.”

  
“I can’t.” The words were certain but agonized. At Blair’s sad and wounded expression, Jim went on, “Please…don’t ask it of me.”  
  


“Why not? I’m not gonna let you get killed over some stupid misplaced sense of honour!” Blair protested hotly, suddenly having the urge to shake Jim’s apparent calm, to make him suffer as he was. 

“Blair…this is what I am,” Jim said and made a hand movement to indicate his feeling of inability to explain it better.

“It’s **not** what you are!” Blair almost yelled. “You’re a cop, a Sentinel…” he paused and added softer, more pained, “my lover.”  
  


Jim nodded. “I’m all those things but I’m always and foremost a soldier.”

“If they knew of your love for me they wouldn’t even want you back!” He yelled the words he knew were a low blow, Jim’s reaction reinforced that, but it was clear Blair didn’t care. Not if it meant Jim would reconsider and then stay.

“I know.” The pain was clear in Jim’s voice, but then he mentally pulled himself together before he spoke again, “but two wrongs doesn’t make a right.”  
  


“I don’t think you should talk rights and wrongs here,” Blair protested hotly, warming up to one of his favourite political topics. “The Iraqi War was illegal and should never have been fought!”

“That may be but it’s a reality now,” Jim said in a matter of fact tone, still keeping his control and cool.

“You know I protested the fucking war all the way! How can you now so calmly accept to go fight in it?!”  
  


“Chief, it’s not about right or wrong. I have a duty to my fellow soldiers and to my country.”  
The use of the familiar nickname cooled a little of Blair’s temper and feeling of betrayal.

“Jim, even you didn't think a war was the right course of action.”  
  


Jim didn’t want to correct him that at first he had not seen a problem with the war. It was only later when weapons of mass destruction didn’t appear and there was no Bin Laden that his conviction weakened. “What I think or feel is unimportant. Fact is we’re at war now and I’m a soldier.” He paused before he elaborated, “My fellow rangers are fighting and dying.”  
  


“Which is why you shouldn’t go! It's one thing to fight and maybe die for a war you believe in but to die for a war you’re not even sure about…” Blair paused to take a breath before he added, “If this was the Vietnam War, would you go?”

Jim nodded. “Yes. I feel I would have that duty.”

“I would never go,” Blair said hotly.

Jim knew violence, and in particular war, was something Blair firmly opposed. Yes, Blair could defend himself if necessary, but he would not be a part of something in which he had no control or say in what was going to happen - where he wouldn’t be able to say no to an order if he felt it was wrong or went against his beliefs.

“We live in a free country. I respect you and people like you and your ideas. Ideas of peace are what will take us into the future. However, when a war rages I, as a soldier, still have a responsibility and duty to perform which has nothing to do with politics.” He paused before he added, trying to find some common ground for them, “And after I had done my duty, and if I felt what I had been a part of wasn’t operated correctly or should be concluded in a certain way, then I would protest it afterwards.”

“But only after you had been a part in destroying and killing a lot of people!” Blair protested.

“I’m not fighting a war for a war’s sake but to save my fellow soldiers and any civilians caught in the crossfire,” Jim said a bit harshly, his blue eyes sharp and piercing. Being a soldier did **not** mean being a killer.  
  


“Considering the huge amount of human rights violations the US armed forces has conducted in Iraq, I think the civilians would be better off on their own!” Blair almost spat the words out.

In the back of his mind, Jim was reminded why he and Blair rarely debated these things and normally simply respected each other’s point of view. No, it was more than viewpoints. It was codes by which they lived their life. Jim’s was the warrior’s way and Blair’s the healer’s, the Shaman’s.

“Those were the actions of a few,” Jim’s voice was low, one hand instinctively forming a fist in anger at the urge to protect the name of his fellow soldiers. Yes, terrible things could happen and yes they should never have happened but he blamed poor leadership for it. No matter the situation and the fragility of human nature, the strength and integrity of a leader could set an example for his men to follow. He paused before he went on, calmer now, “If you have never been at war you cannot imagine the kind of pressure a soldier is under. You can get hit at any time, die at any time. In guerrilla warfare, as this one is, anyone from children to grandmothers can be the enemy.”

“So the answer is that you go and kill them all?” Blair challenged disbelieving.

Jim tensed, but did not lose his temper.

“No, the answer is to have leaders with combat experience to support the fresh recruits. I’ve been in battle before, also this kind of battle. I speak the language and I can quickly identify who’s an enemy and who’s a friendly. With my Sentinel skills my usefulness will be even greater.”

“You speak the language?!”

Blair knew Jim spoke the language of the Chopec Indians, Quechua, fluently and had been able to master it within months yet remember it for years afterwards. That alone should have alerted him to the fact that Jim might have other such skills, yet Jim realized his secrecy about his skills had misled him. Even if Jim hadn’t practiced Arabic in years, judging from his skills with the Quechua language, he’d still be able to remember it. Blair had to admit that he could see why it would be valuable for the army to get a soldier like Jim back - he already possessed the skills they needed.

“I went to Iraq and the surrounding countries on several missions before my discharge. It was necessary to learn just a basic Arabic,” Jim explained, some of his anger and temper dissolving. “I can help save lives here, Chief.”

“What were you doing in Iraq?” Blair asked, obviously unable to recall any major events in that country or the surrounding ones were the US army had been involved. At Jim’s closed expression he sighed, “Right. Classified. That would explain why I never heard anything about it."

“Chief, I’m not going to go there and murder a lot of innocent women and children. Yes, if threatened, I will use any force necessary, but neither my fellow Rangers nor me leave our moral compass or our honour behind when going into battle.”

Blair must have realized he was fighting a losing battle; Jim was already speaking of the Rangers as one of them, sliding easily back into a military thought pattern and language, and he saw his lover's recognition of this in the slump of his shoulders.

“Do you know how many soldiers have been killed so far? How many wounded? It’s in the thousands!” Blair let his worry shine through, fighting angry tears.

“I know. It’s one of the reasons why the army is drawing on the reserve.”

“You don’t get it. If so many never make it back….how can I know you will?” Blair asked softly, his temper gone. All there was left was a lover pleading for the man he loved not to go, not to die.

Jim’s expression softened and he gathered Blair into his embrace, his arms strong and safe around him as Blair held on tightly, fighting for every breath.

“I will, Chief…one way or another, I’ll always return to you,” Jim mumbled softly and kissed the top of Blair's head before he drew back a little so he could see Blair’s face. Tears were now streaking the younger man’s cheeks.  
  


“Jim….Jim…Don’t go. There must be someone else,” his voice was soft and pleading.

In his mind’s eye, Jim saw what his partner feared most: the army visiting Blair's door. No, not even that. The men would show up at Jim’s father’s door and Blair wouldn’t be told until Steven was told. He was sure his dad wouldn’t think of telling him, but Jim and his brother had strengthened their relationship and Steven had easily accepted Blair in his brother’s life. Even at Jim’s funeral the flag would be handed to Jim’s father together with whatever medals the army would probably give him posthumous. Blair would be left with nothing at all. Nothing. Jim steeled himself, making an internal vow to not let that happen.

“They need me. I can’t abandon them now.”

He was going. Blair admitted the defeat with grace, his eyes shining with determination. “Then I’ll come with you. I can go as a freelance reporter or something.”  
  


“No,” the word was soft but the command was clear.

“You can’t tell me what to do. You’ll need me there,” Blair protested.

“I’ll be careful when using my senses; you have instructed me well.”

The praise didn’t make Blair smile the way Jim had hoped, all he managed was a small glimmer of light in his eyes. Jim paused before he added “I need you here. I need to know you’re safe,” the words were soft and heartfelt. “Kidnappings of foreigners as well as subsequent executions of them are still highly regular occurrences there.”

“I can manage.”  
  


“Blair, you’re not combat trained. Please, think.”

“You want me to let you go, knowing I might never see you again? Not only that you want me to see you go risk your life for something I firmly oppose?” Pain and anger were fighting for dominance and Jim wasn’t sure which one came out the most in Blair's words.

“When you opposed the war, I supported you. When you opposed the troop deployments, I supported you as well. I never participated, but I supported you.” He sighed softly. “You need not believe as I do. All I ask is that you support me.”

“How can I? My whole life has been built on the fundamental belief that war is wrong and should if at all possible be avoided,” his words were not harsh but soft, stating a fact, searching for answers.

“Yet you still fell in love with a former Army Ranger captain who has been a part of Covert Ops. You must have had an idea from the start what I had done and could do.”

“Knowing someone once, might, have done the whole ‘I can kill you in a hundred ways and still make it look like an accident’ thing is different from having that same person saying he’s gonna do it now,” Blair protested. He took a deep breath. “I don’t see the army as you do. I see brain washing, manipulation, covering the truth, exploiting the lower classes who have no other option than to join the army in an attempt to gain a future…You see soldiers raising the Stars and Stripes on a battlefield spattered with blood and bodies and you see honour and glory. I see death, mayhem and destruction.”  
  


“You can protest the principles for a war, and the politicians, but the soldiers are fighting and dying for the oath they took and for each other – not for politics or gain. They deserve respect and honour for that…not scorn.” An edge of steel had entered Jim’s voice and eyes as he spoke, memories of fallen comrades, of trials, pains and agony he had survived due to the bond with his fellow soldiers danced before his mind’s eye.

“I don’t do that,” Blair protested but then thought for a few seconds. “Ok, maybe a little, but I don’t mean to. My point is just that I…I don’t want you to get involved in this.”

At the clear note of worry in his partner’s voice Jim’s anger vanished. “Chief, we’re all involved. Just because the battlefield is millions of miles away don’t make it any less of a battlefield.” 

“It should never have been a battlefield in the first place!” Blair wasn’t sure who he was mad at; probably just the situation in general, and Jim tried hard to understand.

“But until the commander in chief decides otherwise then it is, and as a soldier it’s my duty to fight on that battlefield just as it has been a soldier’s duty to fight for their commanders for thousands of years.”

“Even if they were wrong?” Blair asked softly.

Jim nodded, hoping Blair was, if not seeing his point of view, at least accepting why he had to leave. “Even then.”

They stood in silence for a while until Blair hugged him close, his grip so tight it was almost bruising but Jim didn’t care.

“I don’t know what I would do if I lost you,” he whispered.

“I would always be here for you.” Jim repeated his earlier sentiments, knowing there was little else to say.

He held Blair close, trying to offer him all the warmth and security he could…until tomorrow when he’d have to leave.

“I’m not like you…even if you came back as a ghost I wouldn’t be able to see you. I’ll have nothing left. Nothing,” Blair mumbled feverishly. "I'll only see a coffin, with a flag covering it."  
  


Jim pulled back so he could see his lover’s eyes. “Hey, Chief…I’m not dead yet. I **will** come back,” his voice was soft but strong, trying to give Blair a feeling of hope and faith.

Blair nodded, accepting the words as he pulled Jim into a long and loving kiss, needing the contact to remind himself that Jim was right here, still here, still very much alive. When they drew back Blair took a deep breath, fighting for control.

“How long will you be gone?”

Jim felt a surge of pride over the brave face Blair was putting up. Millions of women, and probably quite a few men as well, over the years had seen their lovers go of to war and they had gotten through; they had come back. Blair would be one of them. Jim fought a sudden urge to say to everyone ‘this is my man’.

With a warm smile he replied, having thought it over for a minute, “From the letter, I’m assuming a mission has already been planned for my team and myself but I doubt it’ll be the only one. Normally if you do several hard assignments in a row, you’ll be given leave following that.”  
  


“Except many soldiers over there have had leave cancelled and their tour extended several times,” Blair couldn’t help but comment, his tone bitter but there was more fear of for his lover in his words than any political sting.

“The Rangers are among the elite. Our leave, as far as I know, has never been delayed or declined,” Jim said, no little amount of pride in his words.

“So…we’re talking what…weeks? Months?” He paused, his hopes falling, his voice going softer. “Years?”

“I would estimate 3 to 6 months before I get leave. I will try and fulfil as many missions as I can as quickly as possible. That’ll push me closer to the 3 months line,” Jim promised, already starting to plan it out in his mind. He knew Colonel Jackson by reputation only, but he was said to be a harsh but fair leader. Jim was sure he’d get along well with the man.

“I’ll rather you stayed away longer but then came back alive, and permanently,” a hint of fear had crept back into his voice despite his best attempts not to.

Jim released his hold on him and laid a hand gently on each of Blair’s cheeks, their eyes meeting and holding.

“I **will** be back. I promise you,” Jim said firmly before he claimed Blair’s lips.

Blair leaned into the kiss, putting his arms around the bigger man’s neck. When they pulled apart Blair did indeed look better, more at ease by Jim’s words. “When will they let you out again?”

“Because the Ranger regiment is as mentally and physically demanding as it is, you can normally only serve 2 years after you have been reinstated from reserve status.”

“Two years?! What about your civilian life?” Blair protested.

Jim could almost hear the ‘what about me?’ argument at the end of the question.

“The army will contact the PD and ask that my position be kept for me for when I return.”  
  


“They do that for everyone they recall to the Rangers?” Blair asked with a hint of curiosity.  
  


“Only the ones with enough information hidden in their heads to bring down whole governments,” Jim replied, hints of humour in his eyes though his words were true enough.

Bair smiled a little at that before his thoughts returned to what Jim had just told him. “Two years…” he echoed softly. "Two years without you sound a lot like hell." 

“They’ll pass quickly,” Jim assured him, stroking his cheek with a calming gesture. He knew he was lying but they both needed the lie. Combat did have one main advantage; in the struggle for life for your comrades and yourself, time did indeed seem to pass more quickly as all your concentration would be on that. Of course, downtime between missions was always like waiting for a parent’s scorn and punishment as a child: long, boring and agonizing.

“Yeah.” Blair's voice wasn’t as convincing as he wanted it to be.

“I love you. You know that,” Jim said softly, his eyes and face showing the depth of that love more than his words did.

Blair nodded, emotions stealing his voice for a moment as he fought tears. “Yeah…I do.”

“Come…let’s forget tomorrow for now.” The unspoken words ‘forget it until it can no longer be forgotten’ hung between them.

Needing to feel reconnected to his lover, reinforce their love, Jim took Blair’s hand and began to wordlessly lead him upstairs to their bedroom.

Once upstairs they begun to undress each other, their movements slow and soft, lingering as if to memorize every inch of each other. Which was exactly what Jim was doing, using all of his senses, one at a time he burned Blair’s sensory information to memory.

“I love you so much. So damn much,” Blair mumbled in between fever kisses, dancing tongues and intertwined bodies.

“I’m here. I’m here,” was all Jim could say, was all he needed to say. And for now…it was true.

Long past midnight, after they had gotten up to eat dinner, avoiding talking of the unavoidable and after they had made love again, they had lain in each other’s arms, simply enjoying being together.

“Love you,” Blair mumbled sleepily, his eyes closed, his head resting on Jim’s broad chest, listening to the calming rhythm of his heart, his arms around him. He hadn’t wanted to fall asleep, Jim knew. He hadn’t wanted to waste just one minute of the time he had left with Jim but after a long day with lectures and research when the clock went past 4 in the morning his eyes had fallen shut and he was starting to drift off to sleep.

Jim tightened his hold on his lover with one hand, stroking his curly hair with the other. “I’ll be here…I’ll always be here with you, no matter what might happen. Always,” Jim vowed softly, his voice firm and certain.

He’d do his duty and he would return to his Guide. He had no doubt about it. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted his spirit animal, sitting and watching him from a corner of the bedroom. Then as he watched, Blair’s spirit animal, the grey wolf, appeared at the other end of the room and his panther went to the wolf. The animals greeted each other warmly before they laid down beside each other, the wolf laying with his back close to the wall while the panther took up a defensive position closest to the door, shielding the smaller wolf behind him. Jim smiled at the sight before the vision disappeared.

He softly kissed the top of Blair’s head, feeling a surge of warmth and love for the man in his arms. He would come back. He would always come back to Blair, would always be a part of him no matter how far from him he might travel. Always.

**_The end_ **


End file.
